Code of Conduct

Our policy aims to provide clear and reasonable guidelines for behavior at events. As a community first and a company second, our priority is the safety and well being of our players, and we strive to create trust between the players and the game runners. Our Code of Conduct seeks to provide the basis of that. The consequences for breaking the Code range from verbal warnings to ejection from the event, and associated online communities.

Players and Staff are responsible for being considerate of the rights of other players.

Threats, violence, disrespectful communication or harassment of other players or staff, for any reason will not be tolerated. Failure to abide by this will result in removal from the event and ban from 198X. Character actions along these lines will also be subject to review to ensure that characters are being played within 198X’s ethical guidelines. “What my character would do” is not a statement that excuses inappropriate behaviors.

Player expectations

• Follow federal, state, or local laws, facility rules or event policies
• Comply with the instructions of the staff or site personnel
• Refrain using anything in a threatening or destructive manner against person or Property
• Maintain the safety of oneself or others
• Not engage in threatening behaviors, stealing, cheating or harassing others
• Abstain from drinking alcohol or using mind altering substances during the course of events
• Respect touch boundaries of players
• Maintain separation between real world events and LARP events
• Use and follow player Consent Guidelines

Harassment policy

The harassment policy refers to the way that a participant treats another participant, and is applicable to roleplay between characters, which must be negotiated, agreed to, and consented to by all participants for the roleplay to continue. 198X has a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind. Our policy applies to everyone at the event. 

Harassment of a participant may include, but is not limited to:

• Verbal comments, displayed images, or gestures that denigrate individuals based upon gender, gender identity/expression, sexual identity, disability, physical appearance, body size, race or ethnicity, age, religion, political beliefs, philosophies, geographic origin, or socioeconomic status;
• Physical or verbal intimidation or abuse, stalking
• Non Consensual photography or recording
• Non Consensual physical contact or proximity
• Non Consensual sexual acts
• Non Consensual sexual attention, whether verbal or physical, or unwelcome attention after being asked to stop
• Non Consensual physical attention related to, but not limited to: gender, gender identity/expression, sexual identity, physical ability or restrictions, physical appearance, body size, race or ethnicity, age, religion, geographic origin, socioeconomic status, or pregnancy.

This harassment policy applies to all game associate activities, including live and online events. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a person engages in harassing behavior, Directors will take prompt action in accordance with the mediation policy in place. Anyone can report harassment. If someone’s behavior has made you uncomfortable, you should immediately contact a member of Staff or the Directors by coming to Operations at the event, or by sending an email to [email protected]. Staff will take all actions within their ability to assist those experiencing harassment and make sure they feel safe for the rest of the event.

Between Events: If you have been harassed by someone and you are concerned for your own safety or the safety of the community should this person participate, please email [email protected]. 198X Directors monitor this email and keep all reports confidential. While first-hand reports are preferred to avoid hearsay, we recognize that some may have legitimate fears of retribution which may cause them to refrain from self-reporting. In these cases, please report concerning behavior on behalf of a friend, in as specific terms as possible while protecting the identity of the victim, as necessary.

During the event: If a violation of the Code of Conduct transpires, please come to the Operations Building or seek out any Counselor. They will have detailed instructions for how to proceed.

After the event: While it is our goal that actions are taken to correct harassment as soon as possible, the staff understands that processing events of a game can take time. Should you have concerns after the event is over, please email [email protected] and one of the Directors will follow up.

Consent

198X believes in practicing affirmative, enthusiastic, and explicit consent. We also believe in Safe, Sane, and Consensual roleplay. Anything that is not clear consent or consents to something actively unsafe is not considered appropriately consenting by 198X rules. 

Accommodations

If you need accommodations for a disability, Please email the 198X Directors at Email [email protected]. We strive to make 198X as accessible as possible to people with disabilities. We are unfortunately limited in this regard by the unchangeable aspects of our site and budget.

Steps To Learning

Check-ins

Check-ins sometimes represent a discussion or a reminder of a Rule or Code of Conduct violation. The staff member will make a mark on the character sheet every time they ask a player to correct an action of any kind, verbal or otherwise. Staff will put their own player number next to the tally mark. Hitting too hard, vocabulary errors(minor use of a word that is no longer okay, or never was), minor rules violations, not checking before mild physical contact roleplay, etc.

Counseling

Counseling is done by members of staff, called Counselors, who remain impartial through the process. They are in charge of maintaining safety and investigating misconduct as an objective third party. Before we make a written player warning for these infractions we will have a one on one investigation of events with the player or players involved. If a player has reported misconduct or harassment they can request mediation with a Counselor as a neutral third party to guide discussion to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement for a safe gaming environment for both parties. Depending on the course of action required by the rules infraction, a Counselor will determine if investigation or mediation is warranted. All Counseling will be documented.

Player Warning

A player warning is an official, written, statement of an infraction against policy standards. The game has a filing system to store records of Counseling and Check-ins, in order to allow Directors to be aware of repeat incidents. Repeated rules infractions and misconducts may result in escalating to Player Warnings for minor infractions that would normally be resolved with a check-in. There are certain actions that get immediately escalated to Player Warning.

Suspension

Suspensions from 198X can be one to three-months in length, depending on the type and severity of infractions. Directors will review the infraction to determine the length of time. After 3 Player Warnings on the same infraction, the consequence escalates to suspension. There are certain situations and acts that can result in an immediate suspension.

Banned

Some types of bans are appealable. In some situations, a player can be asked to leave 198X during a game. In severe cases players can be permanently banned immediately.

Appeal

Banning with the option to return requires a review on a case by case basis. All bans have a minimum length of 6 months, at which time the player must fill out our appeal form to be reviewed before entering 198X again.